The invention relates to a traction exercise apparatus, and more particularly to a traction exercise apparatus that provides traction force to various body parts as desired.
Traction is a pulling force that elongates or stretches the spine. This pulling force is used for the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. The traction force may be applied to the arms, legs, neck, back or pelvis for treatment of fractures, dislocations, muscle spasms and other muscular disorders. There are different traction devices available today that can be used at home. For example, traditional traction devices used in a sitting position and more advanced traction devices used in a lying down position. The advanced devices use weights, counterweights and pulleys to provide a force that gradually stretches the spine to a normal position.
There are well-known traction exercise machines that uses a spring to provide resistive force to the joints. One such device is described in U.S. Patent Application No. 20090299248 to Cha (Dec. 3, 2009). This device includes a traction spring, a belt, and a traction control unit. The traction control unit interconnects the spring and the belt, and includes a locking mechanism. The belt is connected to the ankles of the user. The traction spring is arranged to be hooked onto a door frame.
A number of other exercise devices are known in the art for stretching and strengthening the muscles of the lower back and legs of the user. An example of such devices includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,865 issued to Trainor (Nov. 16, 1993). The device comprises a backboard for supporting the user's back and pelvis and a belt to restrain the user's pelvis. A single cable is provided with sliding handles, a pulley guiding system, and leg supporting slings. In a stretching exercise mode, the handles are slowly pulled by the user to raise the legs and thereby stretching the supporting muscles of the spine. In a strengthening exercise mode, the user's feet are pushed toward the floor against the resistance provided by the muscles of the arms.
Another prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,713 issued to Latenser (Dec. 25, 1984), describes a traction invention with a bed and an overhead traction frame, from which a gear motor is suspended to adjust the vertical position of a knee and ankle supporting mechanism. The knee and ankle supporting mechanism comprises a transversely extending knee support adapted to fit beneath the user's knees. An elongated member is secured to the knee support and extends therefrom towards the user's feet. A transversely extending ankle support is secured to the end of the elongated member and is adapted to be positioned over the user's ankles.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 7,303,517 issued to Pandozy (Dec. 4, 2007) describes an inversion apparatus for performing exercises of suspending the body of a person in an inverted position, including a stable steel frame, a winch and a pair of padded anchor rings that connect the feet of the person to a winch operated by a motor or manually. Horizontal cross bars are present on the steel frame to assist the user in performing exercises while suspended in the inversion apparatus.
Most of the above traction exercise devices have considerable drawbacks. Spring utilizing devices provide traction force only to the legs. Moreover, injury can easily occur if the belt is released before the tension within the spring returns to a relaxed state, or if the device for holding the legs is too loose so that the legs slip out during suspension. Further, such stretching devices have been known for stretching the inside thigh muscles and the lower back muscles of a user, but are incapable of stretching the other joints and muscle groups of the human body. Moreover, the above-explained systems are relatively complex and time-consuming to set up.
It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a traction exercise device which is easily set up, simple in application, safe to use, and provides traction force to various body parts including the ankles, leg, neck, wrist and hip joint.